"It feels great to be back on New York soil," said First Sergeant Thomas Lauzon.

Friends and family were waiting with open arms at Plattsburgh International Airport as members of the 444th Engineer Company arrived.

Lauzon's daughter thought her mom brought her to welcome home other members of the unit and that her father wasn't home yet. Her mother wanted to surprise her. When the teenager saw her father, she ran and embraced him, tears flowing.

"It's pretty exciting. It's been a long year, haven't seen the family in about a year. Its -- words don't really describe it," said 1SG Lauzon.

This day couldn't have come soon enough for families who've been waiting on edge.

"I told my husband I haven't had butterflies like this since the day I got married. It's been a long year, a lot of sleepless nights," said mother Jamie Lord.

These Army Reserve soldiers were part of a group that cleared roadside bombs in Afghanistan.

"We were doing route clearance. We were driving down the roads looking for IED's. Most of the time I was the driver," said Specialist Alex Santo.

It was a job that kept parents waiting on pins and needles, until the tour was over.One mother said she hasn't been so nervous since the day her boy was born.

"After all this time, them coming back, and they're alive and they're not injured, it's just such a relief to know that they're coming home," said Santo's mother Tammy.

Other parents echoed similar sentiments.

"To be able to look around the house and see him there -- it's a wonderful feeling," said Lord.